Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Baron Haussmann, Paris (won in a charitable lottery in Semur on September 4, 1866)
Boussod & Valadon (acquired in 1911)
Tempeleare, Paris (acquired in 1911)
Sale: Urion, Paris, May 16, 1934
André Schoeller, Paris (acquired at the above sale)
Christian Otto Zieseniss (probably acquired from the above by 1934)

Alfred Robaut, L’Oeuvre de Corot. Catalogue raisonné et illustré, vol. III, Paris, 1905,  no. 1529, illustrated p. 103

This work on panel is fully inscribed on the reverse. The panel is flat and unreinforced. There is a thin crack running about 2 ½ inches in the lower center left side, but the structure of the work is good. The painting is probably slightly dirty and feels a little unevenly cleaned. Some dirt remains around the profiles of the trees against the sky. Some colors read darkly under ultraviolet light, but one can see retouching in the upper half of the sky, which may address Corot's characteristic thinness in his upper skies. Some dark spots can be seen under ultraviolet light within the trees and in the center of the picture, but these do not seem to correspond to retouches. There may be retouches in the brown to the left of the cow on the far right that have darkened and are not useful. It is recommended that the work be cleaned and retouched more accurately. I believe the condition is better than it appears. This is a picture that does not look its best at the moment, and is certainly ambiguous under ultraviolet light to say the least. The condition of the work is probably respectable, although it is likely slightly thin in areas. The above condition report has been prepared by Simon Parkes, an independent conservator who is not an employee of Sotheby's.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Corot’s views of Mantes, a region situated thirty miles west of Paris, comprised an important part of his work beginning in the early 1840s until the final decade of his career. By the mid-1860s, the date of the present work, Corot was lauded as one of the most important and popular landscape painters in France. With its charming subject, tranquil mood and feathery brushwork, this view of the countryside around Mantes was the type of painting that anticipated the later landscapes of the French Impressionist painters, especially Monet, Renoir and Sisley.

Alfred Robaut comments that this painting left Corot’s studio immediately after it was completed; according to an inscription on the reverse, it was then won by Baron Haussmann in a charitable lottery in Semur on September 4, 1866.